“I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (Miller, The Crucible 143). The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, is a story that illustrates the Salem witch trials that occurred in 1692. These witch trials consisted of people who were falsely accused of witchcraft and twenty of them were executed. Not too long ago in 1954, the McCarthy trials began and took effect on the people. Many people during this time were accused of being communists and as a result lost their jobs and many opportunities in life. Such events flowered from only one simple event. For both of these events there was a process that took place. The process for The Crucible started with affairs, which led to jealousy, which then led to odd behaviors. These “odd” behaviors caused a ruckus within Salem and they believed it to be the effect of witchcraft. We all know what happens next; many people were accused and hanged for something they didn’t do. Now, the McCarthy trials are eerily similar to the Salem witch trials in that it basically repeated history. There was trouble with the Russians and a senator was rising in power, which led to him accusing citizens of the U.S. for being communist spies for Russia. Most of these people were sentenced to jail if they didn’t admit that they were a communist. …show more content…
Many people were convicted, including some of the most innocent people of Salem such as Rebecca Nurse and Martha Corey. Just like Hollywood Ten, both Rebecca and Martha refused to admit to being witches. But instead of going to jail, they were going to be hanged. This courage led other people who were accused to not admitting either, like Elizabeth and John Proctor. In addition to losing hope, the judges that arrived to Salem threw away any other evidence that supported the innocent. Because of this, they were all hanged without further notice and it wasn’t until after their deaths did the town of Salem realize what they had